JACKSON – Dorothy Gale never stepped foot on the tennis courts at Jackson Northwest High School.

If she had, she might revise her statement of “There is no place like home.”

Home is not so sweet for the Mounties girls tennis team. Inch-wide cracks, some running the entire length or width of the court, have forced the team to become vagabonds, traveling from one match to the next due to the courts’ condition.

“It’s hard going into a season knowing you don’t really have any home matches,” Northwest girls tennis coach Nick Lewis said. “Our last (home match) went right up until darkness because we only have four (playable) courts.”

The Mounties have had just three home matches scheduled this season but two were rained out, including Monday’s match against Leslie – which was supposed to be the team’s Senior Day.

Though the location of a tennis match holds little “home-court advantage” other sports might have, constantly playing in unfamiliar territory does take its toll through a season.

“There is a disadvantage to it in that it’s time-consuming, you get home late,” junior Karolina Wozniak said. “At home you get done quicker and you get to go home earlier. More people can come and support you. When you’re away, people don’t ever come out.”

The cracks in the courts occur when water run-off from the soccer field flows underneath the tennis courts. In the winter, the water freezes and expands, causing cracks that grow over time.

Lewis said a one-time repair of the courts costs the school “into five figures,” which it cannot afford to do every year. He said the school is having exploratory talks about finding permanent solutions, but no decision is close.

In the meantime, the Mounties will continue to play and practice around the cracks.

“The biggest thing is it’s hard to travel everywhere and compete everywhere,” Lewis said. “You draw a bigger crowd when you’re home and typically we are out-numbered in number of spectators because we’re always at their court.”